Agile Strategy Execution Framework
Agile Strategy Execution: The Components
Plans
&
Metrics
Plans & Metrics
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Translate organizational S.M.A.R.T goals, objectives & strategies into specific functional area operating plans with associated Key Performance Indicators
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Convert execution priorities into breakthrough or run the business projects/programs with specific dates, outcomes, status indicators, documents & metrics
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Communicate through the organization using a systematic & disciplined approach (i.e. Hoshin, OKR's, internal collaboration sites)
Key Outcomes
Right level of connection to project and program and RTB activity details.
Improved employee involvement & buy-in for target setting and scheduling.
Transparent Single Source Of Truth for all plan information, universally communicated real-time.
Align
&
Link
Align & Link
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Cascade, align and link goals, strategies, and operating plans both vertically and cross-functionally, real-time.
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Active "catch ball" engagement to drive progress and actions at all organization levels.
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Processes can include OKR's, Hoshin Kanri, OGSM.
Key Outcomes
Powerful common taxonomy to describe strategic and tactical intent.
Establishes a new set of vertical and horizontal feedback and seamless communication loops.
Direct line-of-sight and improved clarity of intent connecting goals, strategies & execution tactics.
Real-time Digital Updates
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Enable a transparent digital ‘single source of truth’ for all plan reporting.
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Lead real-time plan updates based on day-to-day triggers, ensuring properly prioritized and scheduled work.
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Best Practices include digitizing updates and cross functional collaboration using software applications.
Key Outcomes
Improved quality and cycle time in decision making.
Improved organizational agility & responsiveness with open & transparent information access.
Ability to personalize reporting to meet individual, team & organization-specific needs.
Cadence
Decisions
Drive Cadence Decisions
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Formal functional/cross-functional collaboration meetings accessing real-time status updates, dashboards and scorecards to drive ‘in the moment’ decision making.
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Ensure proactive real-time: resource reallocation, evaluation of course correcting solutions & prioritization & initiative backlog.
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Best Practices: ban inform only update meetings, utilize digital processes for updates, & on-line collaboration, use OODA Loops, PDCA, etc. for driving problem resolution.
Key Outcomes
Analysis and learnings from 'wins' and 'losses'.
Break ‘big’ efforts into work & backlog components, increasing the accuracy & speed of work delivered.
Institutionalizes prioritization & backlog processes as integral to a firm’s culture & governance.
Innovation Bets
Facilitate Innovative Bets
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Assess newly emerging trends/opportunities to place small bets or conduct deep dives.
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Initiate small actions to study, pilot or test a new or different approach. Make adjustments/pivot current initiative backlog as necessary.
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Best practices: quarterly management meetings, online collaboration for strategy re-assessment, course corrections through agile systems thinking, decision making & execution "pivots".
Greater ability to anticipate change & accommodate changes to strategy/ initiatives as business needs change.
Key Outcomes
Drives collaboration between team resources & stakeholders to achieve agreed upon objectives. & org agility.
Uses market watch techniques to place small bets on new strategic choices.
Refresh/
Transform
Refresh/Transform Long Range Strategic Plan
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Formal, periodic pre-budget cycle reassessment of all core business assumptions, outside-in and inside-out business, market and competitive trends.
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Updating/pivoting or revision of strategic/operating plans, priorities, linkages or alignment up/down the organization with all cross-functional team members.
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Best Practices: Market watch tools ( SWOT), prioritization and decision matrices (QFD, Pugh) for backlog assessments, priorities & decisions
Forces review & reassessment of value propositions for key priorities across the organization based on updated trends.
Key Outcomes
Improves decision making cycle time and more rapid course corrections for strategic big bets.
Improved strategy investment ROI and Time to Value assessments.
Culture
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Executing mechanisms to assess & exploit a firm’s formal vs informal & preached vs practiced culture.
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Initiating a process to drive any needed culture changes so that employees are actively engaged & buy in to the organization and team brand.
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Best practices: ongoing formal climate feedback surveys, impression capture, culture dimensions identity mapping, change branding, stakeholder Impact Assessment & Engagement Analysis.
Improves learning & growth stickiness & employee engagement.
Key Outcomes
Drives more proactive and effective change adoption.
Strengthens organizational alignment, accountability and responsiveness.
Connected Governance
Governance
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Link leadership, employee engagement and decision making best practices through digitally connected collaboration.
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Focus leader efforts on data driven updates and decisions to affirm business strategies, drive strategic initiatives, and tactics.
Digitized Single Source of Truth to identify & resolve issues and metrics variances.
Key Outcomes
Improved ‘line of sight’ clarity between team, personal & dept. work efforts & organizational strategies.
Strengthened organizational agility and knowledge transfer.
ASE Framework / Summary
Plan & Metrics: Incorporate a systematic & disciplined approach focusing on translating breakthrough objectives into plans & metrics.
Align & Link: Ensure that strategic goals are cascaded and aligned both vertically and cross-functionally, driving progress/ actions at all organization levels.
Real-time Updates: Drive real-time plan updates based on day to day triggers, ensuring properly prioritized & scheduled work.
Cadence Decisions: Ensure appropriate renouncing & course correcting solutions to manage prioritization and backlog.
Innovation Bets: Identify and assess opportunities for innovation. Update current strategies and initiatives backlog.
Refresh/ Transform: Assess core business assumptions, updating or revising strategic & operating plans, linkages & alignment as needed.